Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Industry trade Deadline reported yesterday that Donald Glover (also known by the stage name Childish Gambino) has officially joined the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming. To those who have been following the 'Donald For Spider-Man' campaign this is big news, for those who haven't allow me to fill you in.

Back in 2010 when Sony's Amazing Spider-Man reboot was still searching for its lead, a fan of Glover's work suggested that he should be one of the actors in the running for the title role. The actor, then starring in NBC's Community, embraced this idea asking his fans to tweet the hashtag #Donald4SpiderMan in order to see how far they could spread this fan-casting. The campaign soon gained a large following, although ultimately the role went to Andrew Garfield with Glover claiming he was never given the chance to audition.

The idea remained in people's minds long after the release of the 2012 reboot regardless, with the creation of the black-Hispanic Spider-Man Miles Morales in 2011 only adding more fuel to the fire. Glover's casting in this latest instalment in the wall-crawler's film history (which stars Captain America: Civil War's Tom Holland in the lead), is a knowing wink to all those fans who had championed the actor for the role -- although it should be noted that Glover is almost definitely not playing the aforementioned Miles Morales.

In the comic-books, Morales gains his powers at the age of just thirteen years old and so if the character was to make his way to the big screen -- something which isn't out of the realm of possibility -- it's likely that they would cast someone far younger than the now thirty-two year old Glover. Indeed, Glover's role in the movie is currently unspecified but we can only hope that he'll be playing a character with some depth and importance, as it would be a shame to waste such a talented actor in a role only included to provide fan service.

Glover joins Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei in the upcoming MCU Spider-Man flick, which is directed by Jon Watts and set for release on the 7th July 2017.